at 18:00 (JST), February 22

20250222180000_english_1.mp3

Welcome to NHK Newsline. I'm Ramin Mellegard in Tokyo.

Japanese weather officials are warning people in Ishikawa Prefecture that includes the Noto Peninsula to be on the alert following the latest snowfall.
The peninsula was hit by a powerful earthquake last year, and the officials say the snow load could cause damaged homes and buildings to collapse.
Officials say a powerful cold air mass and winter pressure pattern brought heavy snow mainly to the Sea of Japan coast. As of 2:00 PM on Saturday, the snow level in the village of Sumon in Niigata Prefecture was over 3 1/2 meters and in the town of Hiji-ori in Yamagata Prefecture, more than 3 meters.
The officials say there's also a risk of heavy snow in low-lying areas around the Kinki region, including Kyoto Prefecture, where snow is usually scarce. Over the next 24 hours to noon on Sunday, more snow could pile up, mainly along the Sea of Japan. Now, weather officials are calling on people to be on the alert for traffic disruptions, avalanches, power outages and fallen trees. They're also advising the public to consider changing their travel plans or routes during the three-day weekend.

And Saturday marks 14 years since a massive earthquake in New Zealand claimed the lives of 185 people, including 28 Japanese nationals.

Remembering the moment the earthquake struck at 12:51 p.m., exactly 14 years ago.

Bereaved families attended a memorial ceremony service at Christchurch.
The names of all who died were read out.

Well, it it doesn't get easier. You tend to think more about what they did and who they were.

A memorial service was also held at a school in Japan's Toyama City. Twelve students from the school died in the quake while attending language training in Christchurch.

On this day, every year, I feel pain and can't bear it.
I see my daughter in my dreams many times a year, and I wake up hoping it's not a dream. I want to see her, that's all.

Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles says live fire Chinese naval drills have forced commercial airlines to reroute. He says Beijing failed to give his country proper notice.
The drills occurred in international waters between Australia and New Zealand.
Marles told local radio on Friday that China announced at short notice earlier in the day that it would be holding them.
Now, Emirates and Qantas airplanes were forced to adjust their routes while flying over the waters. Marles acknowledged that military exercises in the high seas do not violate international law, but he also lamented China's sudden announcement. He said Australia tries to give 12 to 24 hours notice so airlines can plan around drills. In Beijing, a foreign ministry spokesperson told reporters the Chinese Navy had sent a fleet on far sea training. He said the drills were carried out in a safe, standard and professional manner and in accordance with international law and practice.

Now, six weeks after massive wildfires erupted in Los Angeles, the mayor has sacked the city's fire chief over her handling of the disaster.
Karen Bass said at a news conference that the fire chief, Kristen Crowley, failed to mobilize 1,000 firefighters that could have been on duty the morning the fires broke out. The mayor also said Crowley refused to do an after-action report as requested by the department's fire commission. The wildfires, the swept a suburb in Los Angeles on January 7, killed 29 people, burned more than 200 square kilometers and damaged over 18,000 structures.
Crowley appeared in TV interviews shortly after the fires broke out. She described her department as understaffed and underfunded, criticizing the mayor implicitly. The Los Angeles Times reported that the mayor has been facing questions around not just the city's preparation for the hurricane force winds and accompanying wildfires, but also the management of the crisis since then.

US President Donald Trump is tightening the pressure. on Ukraine, he wants Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to sign a deal that would give the US access to its natural resources, and a senior White House official says he expects that to happen sooner rather than later. Trump used the White House events event to once again urge Ukrainian leaders to sign the deal.

They don't have any cards, but they play it tough. But we're not we're not going to let this continue.

The agreement calls for Ukraine to give the US access to critical minerals as compensation for defense aid. Trump this week denounced Zelenskyy as a dictator and warned him of the need to move quickly to secure peace with Russia. And he lashed out in a radio interview that he doesn't think it's important for Zelenskyy to attend peace talks. Trump also said that if Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted, he could get all of Ukraine. Now, US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz called his boss the president of peace.
He says only Trump can bring about an end to the war.

Here's the bottom line. President Zelenskyy is going to sign that deal. And you will see that in the very short term. And that is good for Ukraine.

Waltz suggested that the minerals deal was first proposed by the Ukrainian president last year as part of his so-called victory plan. Zelenskyy posted on social media about the importance of US support, adding that strong and lasting peace can only be achieved through unity.

Japanese police are urging visitors from abroad to drive rental cars safely. They are concerned about the rising number of traffic accidents involving foreign drivers around Mount Fuji. At a rental car firm in the town of Fujikawa Guchiko on Friday, police handed out foreign language Flyers explaining Japan's traffic rules.
The Flyers have a QR code that can be scanned to show locations of traffic accidents involving foreign drivers.

It's quite difficult to find a taxi in this Fujikawa Guchiko area, so it's much, much easier for us to get a rental car.

And the officers then took the officers then took their campaign to a park in Fujiyoshida City.
The site is popular among foreign tourists for his view of Mount Fuji and a five-story pakoda. Police in Yamanashi Prefecture say that last year about 770 accidents in the Fuji-Hokuroku region north of the mountain involved rental cars driven by foreigners. The number was a 10-year high.

We want foreign drivers to follow Japanese traffic rules and make efforts to drive safely. Local residents should keep in mind that many foreign drivers are not familiar with the laws here.

And those are the top stories for this hour.

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And that is a wrap for this edition of NHK Newsline. I'm Ramin Mellegard. Thank you very much for joining us.